|
Name |
Thiru Vella Kulam |
|
Vernacular Name |
Annan Kovil |
|
District |
Nagapattinam |
|
State |
Tamil Nadu |
|
TH |
Thirumangai Azhwar |
|
Position |
Chozha Naadu (39/108) |
|
Presiding deity |
Vishnu |
|
God |
Srinivasan Annan Perumal Kannan Narayanan |
|
Utsavar |
Srinivasan |
|
Goddess |
Alar Mel Mangai Naatchiyaar Poovaar Thirumagal Padmavathy |
|
Vimanam |
Thathvadh Yothaka Vimaanam |
|
Speciality |
One of the 11 Thiru Nangur Divya Desangal |
|
Theertham |
Swetha Pushkarani |
|
Worshipped by |
The Rudra of the Vamadeva Peedam The Prince, Swethan Manavaala Maa Munigal |
|
Temple timings |
7AM to 12PM and 4PM to 8PM |
|
Contact details |
LORE:
Why does the Sthalam go by the name of “Annan Kovil”?
Thirumangai Azhwar was the most prolific composer of hymns among the Azhwars. He has addressed The Lord as “Annan” (Elder Brother) only while singing His praises at 2 Divya Desams viz. Thiru Vella Kulam (39/108) and Thirupathi (106/108).
As Azhwar had sung about the Lord of Thiru Vella Kulam before singing about Tirupathi, The Srinivasa Perumal here is considered as the “Annan” to Tirupathi Srinivasa Perumal, and the temple is more popularly called as “Annan Kovil”
According to the legends of Thiru Nangur, it is believed that The Srinivasa Perumal of Tirupathi had come here as Annan Perumal
What is the lore of the temple?
The temple shares the common lore of all the 11 Thiru Nangur Shrines and Lord Annan Perumal is said to have manifested to quell the anger of one of the Ekadasha Rudras, who emanated from the locks of the grief-stricken Lord Shiva, who danced the Pralaya Thandavam upon knowing the untimely demise of his then wife, Devi Sati.
Lord Annan Perumal is pacifying the Rudra of the “Vamadeva Peedam”, which is now a temple at a place called “Keezh Sattanadhapuram – Thiru Yogeeswaram”, presided by Lord Yoga Naadhar and His Devi, Yogambaal.
The details of the story are elaborated “here”
How did Annan Perumal bless the prince Swethan?
There was once a king called Dundhumaran, who had a son called Swethan. Sage Vashishtar had prophesised that the boy would die at nine years of age. The king was struck with grief and he asked the sage for a solution to this prophecy of doom. The sage then instructed the king to send his son to Thiru Vella Kulam, dip in the Swetha Pushkarani, chant the “Narasimha Mrithyunjaya Mandhiram” and pray to Lord Srinivasa Perumal, for a period of one month.
The king obliged and sent his son on the pilgrimage. The boy dutifully offered his prayers to The Lord and was blessed to have a long, healthy and prosperous life by the Lord.
It is said that those who chant the “Narasimha Mrithyunjaya Mandhiram” for 8000 times in front of Srinivasa Perumal will be protected by Him and need not fear death.
The divine damsel – “Kumudhavalli”:
Kumudhavalli was one of the divine damsels who used to come from Devalok to this shrine to pluck “Kumudham” flowers (White Lilly) in the Swetha Pushkarani for their prayers and leave back. They used to do this in secrecy. One fine day, Kumudhavalli Naatchiyaar takes a little longer to pluck the flowers. The rest of the Apsaras leave. Just when Kumudhavalli is about to depart for Devalok, she is seen by a mortal man. Because of this, she loses her ability to ascend to Devalok and is destined to stay back at Thiru Vella Kulam. A physician adopts her as his daughter and she lives in this Shrine, in prayers.
Neelan, the war-chief of the Chozha king, happens to see her during one of his escapades and falls instantly in love. He expresses his desire to marry her to the physician, who is her adopted father. The physician requests him to ask his daughters consent.
Kumudhavalli consents, but places a condition. She says that she will marry him only if he is able to feed (Anna Dhaanam) 1000 Devotees per day for one full year. Thus, it is at Thiru Vella Kulam the love-saga of Neelan and Kumudhavalli kickstart.
She is of special importance as she was the one who transformed the rugged Neelan from his worldly pleasures and helped him seek his true destiny.
Neelan eventually becomes Thirumangai Azhwar and is said to have received that epithet from the fact that Kumudhavalli, a “Mangai” was instrumental in bringing the devotee in him.
How and when did Neelan embrace his Avadhaara Nokkam and become Thiru Mangai Azhwar is closely related to the lore of Thiru Nagari (35/108). Click “here” to know how the events on the path to divine revelation transpired.
What are the other specialities of the shrine?
- The Lord is said to have given darisanam to Manavaala Maa Munigal at this shrine.
- Alar Mel Mangai is housed in a separate sanctum as Thani Kovil Naatchiyaar
- There is a separate shrine for Kumudhavalli Naatchiyaar adjacent to the Thaayaar shrine.
- Thirumangai Azhwar makes a visit to Thiru Vella Kulam after the eleven Garuda Sevai while returning to his shrine at Thiru Nagari.
- As he is the groom of Thiru Vella Kulam, he is welcomed by the priests with two coconuts as is the tradition when the son-in-law visits the birthplace of the daughter.
- The shrine is called as “Then Thirupathi” (South Thirupathi)
- The Lord in the sanctum sanctorum is in the standing posture along with Sri Devi and Bhu Devi.
- They also have an official website for the temple which has the temple lore and a lot of other anecdotal details. Check it out at “www.Sriannanperumal.org”
Our Experience:
We had visited this shrine thrice, and we were able to see Annan Perumal all three times
The first time we saw Him was on an exploratory visit to Thiru Nangur. The temple is perhaps the most popular among all the eleven temples and is well funded and maintained. It is probably the only temple with flower vendors among the eleven and also the only temple which has enough manpower to keep the sanctum sanctorum open during thse entire opening hours of the temple. It seems anything associated with Tirupathi (106/108) Srinivasa Perumal will be affluent. This temple enjoys a lot of his popularity as it is customary for people who cannot go to Tirupathi to come here and offer their prayers to Annan Perumal.
The temple attracts much more crowd than the other Thiru Nangur Divya Desangal inspite of being much smaller than Thiru Mani Maada Kovil. The temple pond is well maintained and is so inviting to have a dip in it. Till date, it has the Lilly flowers blooming bountifully, which were coveted by the divine Apsaras themselves.
The second time was during the Eleven Garuda Sevai Utsavam. This is the only other temple apart from Thiru Mani Maada Kovil which is kept open during the working hours, as it has enough priests to man the temple and accompany the Lord Annan Perumal on His journey to Thiru Mani Maada Kovil.
The third time was unique as we had undertaken the daunting task of completing all the 11 Thiru Nangur Divya Desangal in one evening (and we actually succeeded in visiting all of them because of the blessings of The Lord).
We started at Thiru Kaavalam Paadi (27/108) at 1748 Hrs and finally finished at Thiru Paarthan Palli (40/108) at 2028 Hrs, offering our prayers at all the 11 temples. We received the blessings of Lord Annan Perumal and His Devi, Alar Mel Mangai Naatchiyaar and left with loads of endearing memories.
See you folks at the last temple in the Thiru Nangur Divya Desangal – Thiru Kaavalam Paadi (27/108)
Loads of love,
Karthick and Rahul.